You’re planning your next marketing campaign—how will you spend your budget? Planners get paid good money to define which kinds of activity your campaign needs. Do you choose to work below the line or above the line, or a combination of the two? Are you just digital or do you have spend allocated to more traditional outlets like television and newspapers? And where does direct mail fit into all of this? When you learn that 79%* of direct mail recipients respond immediately to a mailer you soon realise that it would be foolish to overlook.

Not only does direct mail work as a standalone, it integrates perfectly with any marketing mix. The older cousin of all the other forms of media, it’s more tested and proven effective than its counterparts. Direct mail is a lot easier to quantify, both in terms of expected outcome and later, return on investment. Its measurability is a welcome insight to marketeers. And it helps to prove your case to your superiors when you’re armed with better information. Just think how it’s easier to have a campaign approved a lot more swiftly if you can show its worth.

Direct mail is the human element your campaign is missing. Not only does your message go directly to their home or business, it ends up literally in their hands. It can’t be ignored—the recipient must do something physically with it, and more than a quarter will keep it for future reference. When they can touch your product or service at the first point of contact, you’ve already made a connection. How you interpret that is yours to decide and is only limited by your imagination. It could be a free sample, an opportunity to experience your product or service at a demonstration, or perhaps you can lure them with a solution to problem they might have.

With a direct-mail presence in your marketing mix it means a more integrated campaign and consistent messaging across all channels. Being ubiquitous is the way through to your customers when competing for their attention in a crowded marketplace. You give your customer multiple opportunities to contact you by providing handy reminders along the way. When you are speaking to them directly to their specific needs with direct mail you’re one step away from a handshake.